The Antisocial Playbook: 14 ruthless tactics for digital domination

Alex Mathers

Sep 07, 2024

Mastery Den, Saturday Edition, warm September morning in Sofia, 5-min read.

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Playing nice so you don't hurt anyone's feelings won't grow your brand.

Take a look at branding expert and marketing guru Gary Vaynerchuk.

He tells people to be kind all the time. And he's right.

Kindness is huge - it's a given.

But he's not nice. He swears like a drunk sailor, tells people when they're acting like pussies, calls out entitlement, and frequently criticises ideas with brutal honesty.

And he's massively popular.

People are hungry for the honest approach. And it won't always seem nice.

In fact, it will often appear antisocial.

Let me show you some opportunities in this arena.

Take the following ideas with a grain of salt. I am having fun here, but they all contain a hefty seed of truth.

Burn the rulebook.

Proper writing is there to be broken.

Learn the fundamentals, and then shatter conventions. Use ALL CAPS.

Fragment. Your. Sentences.

It's not lazy - it's disruptive.

Your writing should feel like a punch to the gut, not a bedtime story. Make English teachers cry.

Piss people off.

If you're not offending someone, you're boring everyone.

Take a stance so hot it burns. Controversy is rocket fuel for virality.

Remember: There's no such thing as bad publicity in the attention economy.

Be the villain if you have to.

Clickbait or die.

Your headline should feel like a slap to the face.

Overpromise (but then overdeliver).

Use numbers.

Shock value is your new best friend. ‘You won't believe number 7!’ isn't a cliché; it's a battle cry.

Make scrolling thumbs screech to a halt.

Embrace the humblebrag.

False modesty is for the uninitiated.

Flaunt your wins. Even I need to work on this.

People crave success by association.

Turn your life into a highlight reel.

Did you brush your teeth today? That's a personal hygiene optimisation victory.

Own it.

Nuke the nuance.

Subtlety is like throwing paint thinner on a jaw-dropping street mural.

Paint the world in black and white. Absolute statements are your power tools.

Always. Never. Guaranteed.

Your audience doesn't want "maybe" - they want certainty, even if it's artificially flavoured.

Weaponise FOMO (Fear of missing out)

Make readers feel sad if they don't implement your advice NOW.

Urgency is king.

Your content isn't just information, it's a ticking time bomb of opportunity.

Light the fuse and watch engagement explode.

Name-drop like a hero.

Sprinkle in celebrities and thought leaders like confetti.

Doesn't matter if you've met them.

Perception is reality. ‘Elon always tells me...’ is fair game.

Your audience can't fact-check confidence.

Master the art of the takedown.

Identify a popular figure or idea.

Demolish it publicly.

Schadenfreude drives engagement like little else.

Be the voice that dares to say the emperor has no clothes. Then sell them your brand of digital denim.

Leak ‘insider secrets.’

Everyone loves feeling like they're part of an exclusive club.

Hint at hidden knowledge. Be the WikiLeaks of your industry.

Create an aura of mystery and watch your follower count skyrocket as people clamour for the dirty truth.

Emphasise how scarce you are.

Limited-time offers, exclusive groups, waitlists – make people beg for your content.

Honour your knowledge like the rare commodity that it is, not a public service.

If it's available to everyone, it's valuable to no one.

Exploit insecurities.

Everyone's scared of something.

Find those fears and poke them hard.

‘You're doing X wrong, and it's ruining your life’ is your new mantra.

Insecurity drives engagement faster than a Ferrari.

But you're doing this to help, because most need to hear you say it loudly and with a hint of venom.

Be a guru, not a teacher.

Don't educate, indoctrinate.

Create a cult of personality. You're not sharing knowledge; you're revealing divine wisdom.

Create an empowering vision with a cause.

Make disciples, not students.

Quantity over quality.

Post relentlessly.

Comment like a crack-fiend. Quality is subjective, but algorithms love volume.

Be the digital equivalent of a machine gun - spray content everywhere and watch your hits (and your skills) multiply.

Steal and repackage.

Original ideas are overrated.

Take what works and make it yours. It's not plagiarism; it's curation.

Besides, if your audience hasn't seen it, it's new to them.

. . .

This isn't just content creation; it's psychological warfare.

You're not here to make friends; you're here to build an empire.

And your empire will ultimately change lives and make the world a better place.

Now go forth and conquer those feeds.

. . .

Thanks for reading.

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